Monday Roundup: DataBank, Africa Data Centres, KWIKOM, Sparkle

Two data center projects, some FTTx, and some regional subsea action:

DataBank has unveiled plans for a significant new data center in Ashburn VA. IAD4 will be built on 5 acres of land adjacent to their existing Ashburn campus in collaboration with GI Partners, which will also be leasing the facility. When complete in Q1 of 2026 the project will add 70,000 square feet of space and 20MW of power to DataBank’s portfolio. DataBank also has 85 acres of land under development in nearby Culpeper VA.

Africa Data Centres is adding capacity to its footprint in Cape Town, South Africa. The CPT1 facility will be expanded to the tune of an additional 6MW of IT load and 1000 racks of white space. That will be made up of two data halls and one hyperscale hall. CPT1 uses wheeled solar power and also houses the Cape Town Internet Exchange (CINX).

KWIKOM Communications is expanding its FTTx footprint to Ottawa, Kansas. KWIKOM was acquired by WANRack last year, bringing together an e-Rate-focused business with a regional FTTx provider. Backed by CBRE, the two companies thus have greater resources to expand with, and KWIKOM expects to add more Gigabit cities in the quarters ahead.

And, according to Sparkle, Unitirreno Submarine Cable System will land at Sparkle’s Geno Landing Platform. The new 1030km cable will connect four Italian destinations together across the Tyhrennian Sea: Mazara Del Vallo in Sicily, Olbia in Sardinia, Rome, and Genoa. If all goes well, it will be ready in Q2 of 2025 with a total capacity of 480Tbps.

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Categories: Datacenter · FTTH · Undersea cables